I preached in church today and this is the text of my sermon. Perhaps it will help clarify some of your thoughts about worship.
Last week we looked at Psalm 40 and Elder Peter pointed out to us that the proper action on our part is to wait for the Lord; God does the rest.
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” (Psalm 40)
Wait for the Lord. Not “wait”, as in do nothing, but wait for the Lord, as in give God the space to act. There are matters that are in God’s domain and we do well to know our place and to wait for him. There are plenty of matters that are in our domain and we would be foolish to think that God desires to take over our lives and run them for us. But we would be equally foolish to carry out our own ideas rather than wait for God when we should, and pretend that God should be happy about whatever we do.
Abraham and Sarah did not wait for the Lord and instead tried to fulfil God’s promise by using Hagar, to disastrous consequences. Paul and Barnabas waited for the Lord when they were thrown in prison and sang songs of worship into the night and because they waited, the jailer and his household were saved.
To wait for the Lord is to allow him the space to act in our lives. It is to trust him to fulfil his promises, trust in his goodness and faithfulness and trust that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him”.
And so the Teacher in Ecclesiastes advises:
“Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.” (Ecclesiastes 5)
And Moses said to God:
“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” (Exodus 33)
This is waiting for the Lord; to pay close attention to God, to make sure that he is at the centre of our concerns and so I thought this morning it would be good for us to consider worship from God’s point of view.
The first passage that I would like us to consider is Isaiah 1.
“Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.” (Isaiah 1)
What was the problem? It was that their worship were mere actions devoid of any true appreciation of who God truly is. Their lives reflect the fact that God was not the one whom they worship because they lived evil lives.
“Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1)
In Matthew 15, Jesus quoted Isaiah 29 as an indictment against the Pharisees:
You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Matthew 15)
All my life, I consider going to church on Sundays to worship as my duty as a Christian. It is a commitment and a priority and it is extremely rare for me to have other commitments and if I am outstation I try to find a church so I can be at a worship service together with other Christians. It does not occur to me to ask whether God is pleased with what I do. In other words, in worship I am focused on doing what I should do and I rarely think whether God is pleased with what I do.
When you consider the language that God used, you know where his anger and disgust are coming from. Such strong emotions arise from love. For example, a husband was unfaithful and now when he reaches out to touch her she feels a strong sense of revulsion.
Listen to God’s words: Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.
Technically, the Jews were doing what they were required to do as part of their worship. Where the people were concerned, they were doing what God asked them to do but where God was concerned he was repulsed by their acts. To the people, they were performing their duty; to God worship is not a duty to be performed but is an expression of love. Love must be true, as embodied in the life and behaviour of the worshipper; love is never mere words; love is not just an act.
You may wonder sometimes why God so desires us to respond to him in love. To me it makes perfect sense, because God loves us. Think of your relationship with God as a marriage; it is good when there is mutual love. Worship then is the tender act of love. If I am unfaithful—I rather be anywhere else than in his presence, I rather do anything than to obey him, I take every available excuse to avoid knowing him better, and even when I am in his presence I am distracted by all sorts of things, I do things that I know will reflect badly on him, I grumble when there are things I need to do for him—if i am unfaithful, but I pretend that everything is OK and I use words that are supposed to be meaningful—you can imagine how you will feel if this happens to you in your marriage.
Worship is an expression of love. It has to be genuine, not genuine merely in terms of emotions, but as reflected in your life and behaviour. There are people who can generate intense emotions during the worship meeting, or the music and singing in the worship concert draw out intense emotions in us, but these emotions do not translate into life and behaviour. Very often our conversation and behaviour after the worship meeting belie the emotions we expressed to God.
If you remember once I spoke about biblical truth being what exists in time and space, so genuine love is evidenced by life and behaviour. The words and the activities are not so important; even the emotions are not so important; what is important to God is that it is genuine, as expressed in life over time.
Tak Ming spoke about how difficult it is to be genuine in the moment and I think that is true for all of us. It is difficult to genuinely mean every word we sing at the moment of singing. I think that while we want to sing and speak with integrity as much as we can, the broader picture of our life and our commitment is the more important reflection of our worship.
The second passage I want us to consider is Isaiah 6:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6)
When I asked myself how I would have responded if I were in Isaiah’s position I have to confess that “Woe is me” is unlikely to be my response. Excitement, awe and wonder, curiosity, some degree of trepidation, yes, but a sense of my unworthiness, my sinfulness and my precarious position, as well as that of my community, would not have been foremost on my mind. That tells me how little I take to heart what the bible teaches me:
“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100)
“God is in heaven and you are on earth” (Ecclesiastes 5)
When Peter caught a sense of who Jesus was, he fell down at his feet and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” while I would probably be celebrating the fantastic haul of fish. Nothing wrong with that but I would have missed the most important person in the whole picture.
Worship is the expression of our true relationship with God: He is at the centre of the universe and we are not worthy to approach him.
For all that Moses is to God—in Exodus 33, God said to Moses:
“I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Still, he told Moses:
“You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33)
In 2 Samuel 6 we read about the tragic death of Uzzah:
“When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6)
Even though it was God who summoned Isaiah into his presence in the vision, Isaiah was still conscious that he was unworthy to be in God’s presence. No one told Isaiah that everything was OK; after all God summoned you. Instead, his concern was taken care of. Jesus didn’t tell Peter his reverence was inappropriate, only “Don’t be afraid”.
We must know our place when we come into God’s presence. It is true that the blood of Jesus protects us but we must be completely aware that by ourselves we are nothing, not only nothing but sinful nothings. There is no place for arrogance, for ever behaving or thinking that God revolves around us. Even good intentions, like Uzzah, while ignoring the concerns of God, are not acceptable.
There is the mistaken notion that if God truly loves us then we must be at the centre of his attention. Many modern Christian songs talk about how he cares for us and so he cares about our situation, our difficulties, our joy and peace. My biggest discomfort about such songs sung in worship is that they are written to make us feel good and perhaps that is why we love these songs. “You are loyal to me”, the song goes. “Great is thy faithfulness” is another song on the same subject. One puts us in the centre while the other elevates God. And so often in the way we worship and the way we pray we place ourselves at the centre. But that is a twisted relationship, born out of our self-centredness.
Malachi highlighted the self-centredness of the Jews in their relationship with God:
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’”
When God says I have loved you, we should be saying, “we do not deserve to be loved by you.” But the Jews acted as if they were on par with God and arrogantly asked, “how have you loved us?”
“A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 1)
God must always be at the centre because that is his true position. Our concern is for him, for his glory, his purpose and his commands. How can God be pleased when we dare to think that we are the important party in the relationship? Listen to Moses as he responds to God in Exodus 33:
Then Moses said to him, “You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people. If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33)
God’s response to Moses was:
“I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33)
But note that Moses was asking to be taught to please God even more.
When Isaiah’s sinful position was taken care of he was able to hear God’s concern and was able to respond:
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6)
When our worship expresses the true nature of our relationship with God, and we put God at the centre of our attention, then God is pleased to share with us his concerns and use us for his glory.
The third passage is in Exodus 34.
Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34)
There are many things that God can say to describe himself but as he proclaims his name, he speaks of his compassion, his grace, his love and faithfulness, his abhorrence of evil and his determination to deal with it.
I am well aware that there are many sections in the bible that extols God for his might and power and his position as Creator but I am fascinated by the fact that God chooses to describe himself in terms of his compassion, his grace, his love and faithfulness, his abhorrence of evil and his determination to deal with it.
This, I believe, is what he wants to be known and worshipped for and this, I believe, is what we should worship him for. It is not wrong to highlight other aspects of God: his power and might, his acts of creation, his justice, but we should be aware that his goodness, in those terms that he spelt out, is what he wants to be truly known for.
But what does it mean to worship God for his compassion, his grace, his love and faithfulness, his abhorrence of evil and his determination to deal with it?
William Temple describes worship in these words:
“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose—all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.” William Temple
Our whole being is taken up and stimulated by that which we worship. And so if we worship God, and we praise him, and we are thankful to him, and we adore him for his compassion, his grace, his love and faithfulness, his abhorrence of evil and his determination to deal with it, then we are inspired and challenged to be compassionate, gracious, loving, faithful, and abhorrent of evil and determined to deal with it, especially in our own lives.
True worship must shape us for the better. We become what we worship.
This, I believe, is what God teaches us from his Word about worship.
The worship due to our God expresses love that comes from our heart and soul, and having taken root in our lives, worship is in our thoughts and attitudes, in our choices and priorities, in our obedience and our service, and finally, in our songs and our words.
It is centred on God and is focused on his pleasure, his purpose, his character and his agenda.
In worship we yield ourselves to him and all that he stands for; we are inspired by him and we aspire to be like him, so that in some small way, our lives may reflect his glory.
Early last week, one morning when I was at the piano practising, an old song that I have not sung in a while came to mind. We had sung it once at TLR but otherwise I think I last sang the song in the 80s. The song stayed on my mind throughout the week and yesterday, having written out today’s sermon the day before, I realised that the prayer that is the basis of the song is an appropriate response to this sermon.
I want to be Your servant Lord,
To serve You each and every day
I want to give my best to You
Approved in every way
Make my life a living sacrifice
The way you want me to be
To serve You with all my heart
Whatever the cost to me
Take me, break me, mould me, Lord
As the Potter shapes the clay
Pleasing you in all I do
Approved in every way.
I’ll stand before Your righteous throne
To hear “Thou good and faithful one”
“Well done” from the Master’s lips
Approved in every way
You won’t enjoy singing this song because it is written for God’s pleasure.
I googled the song to get the chords and I found the author’s testimony about the song and I wish to share excerpts from it with you. This is what the songwriter shared:
The song “Approved in Every Way” was written in 1982. I was 22 years old then. The song was specially written for Full Gospel Tabernacle’s (FGT) annual camp in Cameron Highlands. I can vividly remember writing the music and scribbling on a piece of paper the draft lyrics of the song and passing it to Pas. Voon Yuen Woh. Pas. Voon rewrote part of the lyrics and this song was introduced to the church for our camp. It became an instant hit.
There were only about 30 people in FGT at that time. Most of the church leaders were in their 20’s and were considered young and inexperienced. However, there was something common among all of them. They all knew how to sacrifice and serve the Lord with all their hearts. So this song reflected the hearts of the pioneers of the church.
At our first meeting in FGT in 1981, we needed to raise RM 13,000 to pay for the fixtures of our rented church premises. This looked like a small amount today. But at that time, with 30 people who were mostly students, this was a large amount. So many of us emptied our bank accounts. Even with this, we managed to raise only RM 6,000.00. So we had to pay the balance by installments. It was in those years that we learnt how to sacrifice totally to God’s purposes. This song “Approved in Every Way” is a true reflection of the lives of the pioneers. They gave their all for God.
As the years passed by, one by one some of the pioneers of the church left their high salaried jobs to serve God full time. Our Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Eu Hong Seng was a Senior Manager in a Finance company. Pas. Voon Yuen Woh was a Financial Controller in the Arab Malaysian Group and Pas. Goh Hock Huat was a manager in Credit Corporation Malaysia. They all left their jobs and are now serving God in full time service. Pas Voon relocated to Seremban with his family to plant a church there. This was our first daughter church outside the Klang Valley. Later in the years, other pioneers like Pas. Yoke Poh, Pas. Clarence, Pas. Gaik Sim also reponded to the call of God.
In 1998, I received my call to full time service. At that time, I was the Senior General Manager at the Soon Seng Group. It was a struggle to obey God because of the financial sacrifices. Nevertheless, I obeyed. In 1999, I became the Principal of Tung Ling Seminary. Today, most of the pioneers of the church are in full time service.
In 2001, we celebrated our 20th anniversary. By this time, the church had grown to over 700 members, with services in English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Filipino. We have several branch churches across the country. I am often humbled that such a simple song written from our hearts can have such an impact on the destiny of a church. In the end, all lives are “living sacrifices” for God.
Looking at how this song came and held my attention, and also the details of what the songwriter shared, I believe that God wants me to bring all this to your attention and I leave it to you to recognise what God is saying to you. Let us pray:
Father, I pray that these thoughts that you have shared with me, and I have shared with the church, will help us as a church to be a congregation that pleases you in our lives and in our worship. Please speak to us where we have offended you and caused you grief, and soften our hearts unto repentance. Circumcise our hearts so that we may love you with all our heart and with all our soul, that you may delight in us. In the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, amen.